Shinda
by LazyTantei
Summary: AU Fic.Waking up in the woods with no memory of how he got there, nightmares of blood and screams echoed through his mind. He decides to shelter at an aged house instead of braving the harsh winds. Gradually as he stays, the name Shin'ichi...Who was that?
1. The Old House in the Clearing

_"Aw, nice one, Kuroba," a voice said with a caustic tone, "thanks to you, the car broke down, and now the only way to the camping grounds is by foot. It's exactly 5:05:10 p.m. and counting, and we'll never get to there before the sunset!"_

_"Well, it's not my fault that you decided to pay to attention to me and not the tree you were driving into!" came an annoyed whine in reply._

_"Well, what's done is done," came an deep Osakan-accented voice, "we'll either have ta find a place ta stay 'round here, or camp out in these woods fer the night."_

_"Camp out in the woods for the night!? Heiji-kun, you can't be serious!" a high-pitched Osakan-accented voice shrieked._

_"'Course I'm serious, Kazuha!" snapped Heiji, the one with the deep Osakan accent. "You really expect us ta get ta campin grounds by sunset?"_

_"Oh great," the high-pitched Osakan voice that belonged to the girl, Kazuha, lamented. She glanced back into the car where another girl accompanied her. "Thanks to your boyfriend, we're stuck here, Aoko-chan."_

_"Mou, Kaitou's not my boyfriend!" Aoko exasperatedly exclaimed, her cheeks blushed with pink. "We're just childhood friends, that's it!" Aoko eyed Kazuha. "And besides, why should we believe your boyfriend, Kazuha?"_

_"He's not my boyfriend!"_

_"Maa, maa, girls…" Heiji said, attempting to calm the two girls down._

_"Oi, oi, there's someone there!" Aoko and Kazuha quickly got out of the car and joined Heiji and Kaitou, the boy who caused the breakdown of the car. Aoko blinked._

_"Eh? Where's Hakuba?" she asked, glancing around._

_"Eh, Hakuba went ahead to that someone," replied Kaitou as he pulled on his collar and broke into a sprint. "C'mon, maybe this person can lend us a hand!" The other three glanced at each other before they followed Kaitou towards the blonde teen who was heading for the lone figure in the distance. "Oi, sir!" Kaitou called out. The lone figure turned around to face them, light cobalt eyes blinking at the group as they approached._

_"Hai?"_

_"I'm Saguru Hakuba," said the blonde teen, bowing slightly. "This is Kuroba Kaitou, Hattori Heiji, Nakamori Aoko, and Toyama Kazuha," he introduced, gesturing at the four who each bowed slightly, "we're campers…our car broke down, and we were wondering if you, sir, would happen to know a place where we can stay before sunset…"_

_"A pleasure to meet you all, I'm Kudou Shin'ichi," the teen said, bowing slightly, "Ah…a place to stay?" He glanced around, ruffling his short chocolate brown hair. "I'm looking for a place as well, I've heard the winds are harsh during these times…" he muttered before he spotted something. He then pointed behind him. Where he was pointing revealed an old house in a nearby clearing. "The house over there looks aged and unoccupied, but maybe it can provide some shelter for us until daybreak?" Shin'ichi suggested._

_The five glanced up at the house before nodding. "I guess so," Heiji said, pulling on the cap on his head. "anything for now…"_

---

He jolted awake, a shiver going down his spine as the wind blew hard. He glanced around, his mind feeling oddly blank. Who was he again?

He suddenly groaned, placing a hand on his forehead. "Man, what a headache…" he muttered, eyes briefly closing. He then glanced around once more. Night had settled around the area; no wonder it was colder than usual…

Slowly he stumbled to his feet, his headache seeming to get worse. _If this keeps up,_ he thought, _I'm gonna die of exposure. I gotta find somewhere to stay…_ He glanced around again…and to his luck, found an old house in a clearing. He stared at it for a while, observing it. _Hm…it looks aged and unoccupied…but I guess it's better than dying out here…_ A moment later and he made his way to the house, shivering uncontrollably. He quickly opened the door and entered.

Much to his surprise, the moment he was fully in did the door suddenly buckle shut. Quickly he turned the knob of the door and tried to pull it open, but to no avail. It was jammed. He'd have to find another way out.

Releasing a sigh, his ears caught soft and dull whispers. He glanced around the area, which really didn't look any better than it did on the outside.

"…H-hello?" He called out hesitantly. When heard no reply he sighed and dismissed the whispering as the wind outside playing tricks on him. Glancing around one last time he decided to go up the staircase on the right.

By the time he'd made it to the second floor, he had to stop himself from jumping every time he heard a creak. Relieved that he'd made it on the second floor without any injuries, he glanced up where a window was. Moonlight streamed through the sweeping clouds and into the house.

He glanced to the sides. To his left was a door, probably leading into a room. At his right was a door as well. He blinked upon hearing hard, dull thumps from the walls and roof. _…It's like someone's trying to get my attention…_ he thought, suddenly noticing the hatch on the roof.

…_Is that where that thumping sound's coming from?_ He thought, staring at the hatch. This could probably lead to an attic, which could explain where thumping was coming from…

Without another thought, he reached out to the hatch and pulled it down, a ladder immediately sliding down. He coughed as it made contact with the floor, sending dust everywhere. Once the dust had cleared, he glanced up at where the ladder lead up to. Hopefully, the thumping noise was coming from up here… He proceeded to climb up the ladder.

Only an inch of moonlight shined into the attic. However, he coiled back in surprise and horror upon seeing that the light shined upon a human torso strung up by its arms, literally ripped to shreds and missing its lower extremities.

* * *

A/N: Ok, I couldn't resist putting this idea up. Just hope this sparks some interest in some readers.. I'll have the next chapter up soon, so I can get it over with and finish CotNAoL...Peace and Bacon! 

_LazyTantei_


	2. What was, What is, and What will be

**Last time...**

_"Camp out in the woods for the night!? Heiji-kun, you can't be serious!" _

_"A pleasure to meet you all, I'm Kudou Shin'ichi." _

_"The house over there looks aged and unoccupied, but maybe it can provide some shelter for us until daybreak?" _

_Night had settled around the area; no wonder it was colder than usual…_

_He coiled back in surprise and horror upon seeing that the light shined upon a human torso strung up by its arms, literally ripped to shreds and missing its lower extremities._

_---_

_Chapter 1: What was, What is, and What will be_

_---  
_After gathering up his courage, he approached the corpse once more. The stiff seemed to be around his late teens, around seventeen or so. He shook his head in pity. _Who could do such a thing?_ He thought, suddenly realizing that he'd stumbled upon something sinister and ghastly.

_I need to find a way out of this place and quick,_ his gaze tore from the body. ..._but_..._this house might hold the answers to who I am and what I was doing at the woods at such an ungodly time..._ He turned his body to the side. _I need to get to the bottom of this._

It was then he noticed something sketched onto the right hand wall of the attic. Curious, he stepped towards it when...

_Crunch._

He took a step back, startled. Glancing down, he saw that he had stepped on an ID holder.

An ID holder that had something smeared in blood.

Bending down to take a look at it, he found out that the stiff went by the name of Saguru Hakuba. Silently praying for this poor soul, he then glanced toward the smear. It looked like the letter U in the English alphabet...

_Could this be a clue as to who did this?_ He wondered. Standing up and keeping the oddly shaped letter in mind, his attention went back to the wall where he found something scrawled upon it.

**4869**

_...4869? Is this a code? Maybe something's hidden here in this attic?_ He glanced around, searching for anything that might've connected with the numbers. Finding nothing, he decided to climb down the ladder, also keeping the numbers in mind.

Pushing up the ladder and closing the hatch, he turned towards the door to the right. "Maybe I can find something in the rooms..." he muttered to himself, gulping as he walked towards the door and twisted the knob. Slowly he pushed it open, carefully peeking inside to see the items in this room...

And then promptly staggered back as he saw that the bed inside was soaked in blood. He whirled around, eyes closed. He hoped that his eyes were playing tricks on him.

Holding onto the door, he slowly stepped inside and glanced in again, his eyes confirming that the bed was indeed stained with blood of a victim. He tentatively glanced around the area, just to see if there was anything that would help him solve the mystery of this house...

On the ceiling was a roof lamp that swayed...but no wind rushed into the room. Next to the bed was an old gramophone that wasn't powered...and yet, it spun as if it was waiting for a record to be played. Above the bed was a painting... He blinked at it.

_This painting...its landscape looks familiar...But why is that so?_ He wondered. Out of curiosity he approached the bed and--carefully avoiding the blood--removed the painting. He stared at it for a short moment, seeing if any details in the painting would trigger his memories. Seeing as nothing happened he sighed dejectedly, deciding to return the painting back on the wall...

Until he saw that a safe was built into the wall where the painting was. He let out an unamused chuckle, eyes narrowed at it. _Wow, that's pretty original. I definitely didn't see that coming._

Setting the painting down on the bed, he glanced over at the safe. It was one of the safes that needed a four digit code. _Great. I need a number code, choosing from numbers zero to nine PLUS the number sign and asterisk. It's going to take me all night to figure out this code._

Suddenly his mind went back to the writing on the attic. "4869," he muttered, "will that work here?" he asked himself, staring at the safe for a brief moment. A moment later and he punched the four letters in and pressed _Enter_, waiting...

And on the screen, _ACCESS GRANTED_ could be seen. He grinned. "Success!" He said to himself victoriously as the door swung open...

Only to reveal a single leather book, as well as another symbol smeared in blood behind what appeared to be a bloody human heart.

He jumped back in surprise of the human heart, an unsettling aura of foreboding settling into his stomach. What freak would do such a thing?

Trying to ignore the human heart, he glanced at the symbol smeared behind it. _...looks like T, in the English alphabet again...maybe these are supposed to spell a name_? He wondered_. But, if it was going to spell the murderer's name, the only one who could do that is the murderer himself...is this a challenge of some sort_? He asked himself. Keeping that in mind, he reached out for the leather book. On it was a word printed in block letters**: SHINDA.**

_Maybe something in this book can help me solve this mystery..._He thought, opening the book. He blinked upon seeing foreign writing in it. Sighing, he flipped the pages, seeing if he could see anything he recognize.

It was only until he reached the last few pages of the book that he saw recognizable writing in bright red ink. _...A translation, perhaps?_ He wondered staring at the writing for a moment. He then began to read...

**_The Book of Shinda _**

**_WHAT WAS _**

**_Before the dawn of man and beast, the earth realm was ruled by the Ancients. Mystical beings transcending life, death, time, and reality  
as most mere mortals know it. The days before life and light were ruled by darkness and chaos. _**

**_The Ancients roamed the plane of existence, and lived on the blood of conquest and rule over lesser entities. There were many of these  
ruling archaic spirits; however one-by-one over many millennia, their greed and arrogance saw them turn against each other. _**

**_They sought blood, destruction and dominance over their own kind and many immortal sentients met their demise as a result. The  
consolidation of the remaining power saw the Ancient's rule divided amongst the remaining three. _**

**_Taiyou, Hoshi and Tsuki frequently exerted their wrath and cruelty through their ferocity towards each other's dominion. The blood of  
many was split as the remaining three fought against his brother for the spoils and power that they each possessed. _**

**_Upon the battlefield, Taiyou's forces reduced the armies of Tsuki to dust, culminating in long awaited glorious victory. But his  
compassion towards his defeated brother saw Tsuki get a reprieve from the certain destruction that he faced. _**

**_Knowing that defeating Hoshi's forces would require many more millennia of fighting, Taiyou appointed Tsuki as his general—  
knowing that the power of two Ancients was enough to win undisputed control. _**

**_In a final bloody battle in the crimson sky, the penultimate confrontation played out. Hoshi not realizing that Tsuki was still  
corporeal and leading Taiyou's armies, made the grave mistake of underestimating the strength of his opponent. _**

**_The losses took the Hoshi forces by surprise, and before they had time to regroup, Tsuki had plunged his sword deep into the heart of his  
defenses. Taiyou's forces streamed in to the last stronghold of Hoshi, slaying every sentient entity that stood against them. _**

**_Hoshi's army was eventually defeated, leaving Tsuki triumphant in his victory. His subordinates fought ferociously, and they were to be  
rewarded with a unified rule over the Earth realm. _**

**_Taiyou, holding no compassion towards Hoshi as he had Tsuki, destroyed the life forces of his nemesis and claimed the kingdom as his  
own. With his totalitarian control, he decided that Tsuki was no longer of use to him. _**

**_Unfortunate for him, he did not count on his armies siding with the powerful Tsuki. In a furious realization of this challenge in the face  
of certain ascension, the earth realm shook with the power of Taiyou's anger towards his army's treachery. _**

**_Tsuki showed no mercy towards his brother, knowing that he could not make the same mistake Taiyou made. Without hesitation, Tsuki  
had Taiyou slain by his own ethereal hand—and he assumed total control of the consolidated kingdom of the Earth realm. _**

**_The tyrannical rule of Tsuki lasted for many millennia with no one to challenge him. But conspire certain forces did against the soul  
remaining Ancient. They bode their time, recruiting supporters of the overthrowing. _**

**_Tsuki was ambushed and overpowered by his trusted advisors—but knowing that only one of his own kind could destroy him, he had his  
corporeal presence removed to exist for eternity in the demonic spirit form. _**

**_The remaining world of archaic lessers were dispersed and were governed under each individual's rule. It was true chaos with no joint  
agenda. _**

**_Tsuki—without corporeal form and no longer able to physically alter the world, roamed the Earth realm for the rest of existence.  
Diminished in power, he still had many followers to which he would spiritually combine his life force with. Instead of existing as a  
single powerful entity, Tsuki became subversively indestructible by being many. He called his new legion of existence Shinda. _**

**_WHAT IS _**

**_The appearance of soul bearing creatures of flesh and blood saw in new rule within the Earth realm. Over many thousands of years,  
man destroyed countless lesser entities—some very powerful, even some who helped overthrow Tsuki's previous rule. _**

**_While man was physically weak in compassion to the entities of dark times, their souls gave them many advantages. And it was due to  
these advantages that the Earth realm entities were reduced to minimal numbers. _**

**_A world once ruled with strength and might was now in the hands of the weak. The handful of ancient entities sought to influence and  
control humanity for mutual gain. Tsuki's Shinda prospered where other entities failed purely because of their strength in numbers and  
the wisdom of the mighty Ancient himself. _**

**_Together as one, the Shinda was worshipped widely in the world of man, but human nature led to conflict and the cult of Tsuki was  
tragically culled and almost forgotten. _**

**_With every passing human year, Tsuki's influence and power in the Earth realm was diminished until all that remained was what was  
recorded in the written form. After the death of the final disciple, Tsuki and the Shinda slept until the day humanity was ready for the  
anointment of his hand. _**

**_WHAT WILL BE _**

**_Prophecy and the word of Tsuki speaks of the coming of the Hand of Repose. Anointed with the blood of five, a selected man will  
transcend humanity and evolve to become the link between the Earth realm and Tsuki's Shinda. Awakening the Ancient from his  
slumber, the hand will be charged with the power to bring about the uprising of the Cult of Shinda once again. _**

**_Blood, wrath and strength will once again rule the Earth realm, and Tsuki will walk tall and rule amongst mortals as it was meant to  
be in the time before light and life. _**

Blinking at the information in the book, he turned the last page of the book. "Rite of Charging the Hand...Translated from the Aramaic Cult of Shinda scrolls, the rite of charging the hand reads as follows...

"Devoured the crimson life of five, marks of Tsuki given to thee...Mirrored below the soul survive; What was, What is, and What will be." Mouri Kogoro of circa 1890.." he read, blinking. _Was this Mouri Kogoro the past tenant of the house?_ He wondered. Closing the book and keeping the last words the book left him in mind, he placed it back in the safe and closed it, turning to the door beside the bed.

He approached it and twisted the knob, pushing it open to reveal a bathroom. His stomach lurched upon seeing the room was splattered with blood, and that the bathtub was filled with a thick, viscous liquid. Closing his eyes briefly to regain his composure, he decided to search the sink. On its edge lay a silver key, stained with a single drop of blood. He picked it up and put it in his pocket, hoping that he would be able to use it in the future. Finding nothing else in the room, he exited and closed the door, glancing at the door adjacent to him. He walked over to it and twisted the knob, but couldn't budge it open. _Locked._

He fished out the key he'd found earlier, but found out that it needed no key. He blinked._ Someone was inside?_

"Hello?" He called out, knocking on the door. No answer. He tried to open the door again. No dice.

Sighing, he gave up on the door and decided to head down the stairs. Perhaps a little search around the house could help explain his presence here...

* * *

A/N: Edited as well as added one teeny part at the end. I have no idea HOW I missed that...Well in any case, R&R and Bacon!

_-LazyTantei_


	3. Diary of a Madman

**Last time...**

_Silently praying for this poor soul, he then glanced toward the smear. It looked like the letter U in the English alphabet..._

_He tentatively glanced around the area, just to see if there was anything that would help him solve the mystery of this house..._

_He reached out for the leather book. On it was a word printed in block letters**: SHINDA.**_

_"Devoured the crimson life of five, marks of Tsuki given to thee...Mirrored below the soul survive; What was, What is, and What will be." Mouri Kogoro of circa 1890.."_

_Perhaps a little search around the house could help explain his presence here..._

_---_

_Chapter 2: Diary of a Madman_

_---  
_Descending the old stairs, he glanced at the door from where he had entered. He glanced at the key in his hand. He approached the door and inserted it into the keyhole. It only went in halfway; the wrong key.

_Ah, well I'm just getting my hopes up with this..._ he thought languidly as he slipped the key back in his pocket and turned around to face the darkened hallway. He entered it a moment later.

Upon entering, a feeling of dread hit him. He stopped, blinking. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, releasing all the tension in his body. Pausing to gain his confidence, he decided to move on once more when suddenly, out of nowhere, an apparition screamed into existence at the end of the hall-- disappearing as quickly as it came to be.

_Am I hallucinating?_ he asked himself, eyes blinking hard. _Or is this a warning of some sort?_ In any case, he decided to press forward despite the sudden confrontation of the unsettling sight.

Once he reached the end of the hall, he was presented with a junction point, split by an aged grandfather clock ticking away the hours. His eyes narrowed at the face of the clock, finding something odd about it...

Stepping towards it, he examined it. Three Roman numerals were inscribed onto it with bright red ink: XII, III, VI, and IX. He blinked at each of the I symbols.

_There's something odd about the I symbols,_ he thought. _But what is it that's odd about them?_ he wondered, head tilting at the enigma. Finding nothing else wrong, he decided to head in to the door on the right.

Upon entering the room which found out was a kitchen, the first thing he noticed was the blood. It stained the faded white tiles trailing under the door ahead, as well as forming a pool on the bench top immediately under the microwave oven. What seemed more disturbing to him was that blood was dripping from under the closed door of the microwave.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped towards it and reached a hand toward the handle.

He staggered away from the microwave upon seeing a severed head that was placed there.

He closed his eyes and shook his head to get rid of the sick feeling that was in his stomach before hesitantly approaching the head to see if he would recognize someone...

And upon close inspection, he found that a symbol quite familiar to him was smeared on the male teen's head. His eyes narrowed, remembering that it looked like the I on the grandfather clock in the other room.

Unable to see the remains of this poor man's soul, he closed the door and began to search the kitchen. Upon opening the cupboards, he found an bloody knife. Though it looked like a sufficient weapon against the culprit of these hideous crimes, he left it there to find a larger weapon.

After finding nothing else, he turned to the door where the bloodstains trailed under. He gulped, only wondering what could be in store for him in that room. He slowly pushed it open and stepped in...

He closed his eyes upon seeing the sight in the loungeroom. On two of the chairs were two women, stomachs slashed open. Blood was spilled on the chairs, the table, and the floor. After a moment, he approached the table and found what looked like a journal at its edge. He picked it up, staring at it. It was leather, and it had no name on it. With a sweaty hand, he opened the journal and began to read its contents...

_**May 24th, 1999 **_

_**An unusually eventful day today. I stumbled across an unusual find whilst out hunting for a place just to be with myself in this remote wilderness. Watching a wild steed as it galloped into a clearing, you can only imagine my surprise to find a house—old and seemingly abandoned—but still standing strong. An interesting find. One that certainly has me curious. **_

_**May 25th, 1999 **_

_**Upon my investigation with the city archives earlier this morning, it appears that the house as been abandoned for almost 10 years and currently resides under the control of the local government. I feel that its location must bee too remote for them to be able to tear it down. But I must admit that I feel drawn back to the house. Mostly out of curiosity—but I cannot deny that there is something else about that place that has me yearning to return. **_

_**May 28th, 1999 **_

_**I could not put it off any longer. I called in sick to the school today and decided that I would retrace my steps into the wilderness to once again find the house which has been foremost on my mind of late. It didn't take much to find it again—as it was almost like I was being guided back to the exact spot that I found myself some four days ago. **_

_**Once I plucked up enough courage, I pushed open the unlocked front door. Admittedly, I was very surprise ad the ease of which the door opened considering that the hinge had probably built up a good 10 years worth of rust. **_

_**To my relative astonishment, the place was still furnished. Though very dirty, and completely rundown—I was still amazed at the state of the place considering that it had been empty for so long. I decided that I would explore the house, and not disturb anything within. My fear had not subsided, and as a matter of fact, it is still with me as I record this journal some hours later. **_

_**My curiosity took me through the kitchen, bedroom, and loungeroom before a thumping noise from the roof on the second level startled me so much that I ran straight out the front door and back through the forest to my motorcycle (as it was, I almost fell off a small ledge and into the thicket bellow). I felt like a complete fool being scared off by rats (which I assume they were). **_

_**May 29th, 1999**_

_**I had a nightmare last night. All I can remember is the blood and the frightened screams surrounding me. And the house. The house was in my nightmare too. **_

_**May 30th, 1999 **_

_**I called in sick to school once again so I could venture out in the wilderness and explore the abandoned house once more. Not surprisingly, I found the structure with relative ease as I did yesterday. However, I was startled when I noticed that the front door was closed. I am certain that when I left in such a hurry that the door had been left ajar. In any case—I eventually attributed the closed the door to the wind, as I was clearly the only person who had been in the old house recently. **_

_**I repeatedly scoured through the house for anything interesting, heading back through the previously visited rooms. Once again, as I passed through the hallway outside the main bedroom on the second level, I heard heavy thumping coming from the roof. I was instantly very tempted to repeat yesterday's dash from the house, but I swallowed my fear and continued on with the exploration. **_

_**In the limited time that I had before dusk, unfortunately I did not uncover anything that would help explain the mysterious disappearance of the most recent tenants. **_

_**May 31st, 1999 **_

_**I sit here in the loungeroom of the old house by candlelight recording in this journal the events that have transpired today. Although I am scared to within an inch of my life, I am bound to this house and feel that I do not have the strength nor resolve to run back to my car at such and advanced hour. **_

_**As I have for the past week, I returned to this house with the intent of uncovering anything that could help answer the question of its missing tenant. **_

_**I failed to uncover anything that could help the cause, but what I did find seems far more precious and disturbing than I could have ever hoped for. As I was scouring the library for any misplaced photos or letters, I almost tripped myself over a leather bound book sitting in the middle of the dusty floor. I was certainly miffed as to how I missed it in my movements through this house of the past few days. **_

_**Picking up the book, I felt a slight empowerment rush through me. The distant sound of wind began to sound like whispers, and the room in which I was standing seemed to darken. I wondered what knowledge of the scribe had passed down the ages for me. **_

_**Enchanted by this aging literature, I retreated back into the loungeroom, settled down in one of the most comfortable chairs and continued to read through the contents of this book. **_

_**Written in what seemed to be a red ink of some sort, a lot of the content didn't initially make sense to me as the majority of it is written in a language that is foreign to me. But in the back of the book, there were abridged translations written by a Mr. Mouri Kogoro from 1890. **_

_**The majority of what I could understand seemed rather jumbled and non-sensical. Rather disappointed, I closed the book and relieved myself of its burden. Things from this point became rather blurred, and frighteningly surreal. **_

_**The sound of the distant forest animals stopped as if all life paused, waiting for my next move. The wind outside stopped pounding against the shuttered windows, and the candle winked out of existence, leaving my in almost pitch black conditions. I listened closely, and all I could hear over my heartbeat and the rasping breath was the whispering I shrugged off before. It was coming from every direction, yet no direction at all. **_

_**The whispering slowly got lower, until it sounded like a dull roar. Voice of many different types called out. I cried in pain, screamed my name and shouted some obscenities I dare not repeat. There were so many of them. So many voices. **_

_**I felt multiple hands pin me down to the chair by my upper torso, but every time I flailed my arms out in front of me, they connected with nothing but air. The harder I was pressed against the chair the harder it was for me to breathe, and soon I could not breathe at all. **_

_**I blacked out—the last thing that I remember was a flash from my nightmare before. A flash of blood. A flash of the screams. The house. **_

_**I woke up about 20 minutes ago slumped in the same chair. It is now long after dark, and I dare not brave the sub-zero temperatures of the woodland winter to return home this evening. Tonight I will be staying here in this accursed house. **_

_**Sometimes I think that I can still hear the whispering—or are they just echoes of my earlier brush with madness? I can feel the urge of slumber rush towards me light a freight train. I pray that I survive the night. **_

_**June 1st, 1999 **_

_**Plagued by the nightmares more vivid than I care to remember—I awoke screaming. It appears that I slept through the daylight hours. But it didn't matter to me. I was incensed to fight the freezing conditions outside and return home. But I was scared to move from this post. They started whispering to me again. I want to leave, but I can't. They won't let me. I scream at them, but they just laugh and utter obscenities back at me. What have I released upon this world? **_

_**June 3rd, 1999 **_

_**Tsuki spoke to me today. It is he who is spoken of in the Shinda. With every word he whispers into my mind, I tremble as if my soul has been shaken to its core. **_

_**June 7th, 1999 **_

_**I have been here for over a week now. Surely someone must be looking for me by now. I pray that they find me—my captors here won't let me leave. Every door. Every exit. The handles turn, but the door does not move on its hinges. **_

_**June 16th, 1999 **_

_**I no longer fear death. I actually pray that it comes for me. **_

_**June 30th, 1999 **_

_**They still torment me. Keeping me here. Keeping me alive. They need me to…to…I can't even write of it. **_

_**July 20th, 1999 **_

_**I feel that my sanity has almost left me. I hallucinate so vividly. I can't tell what's real and what is not anymore. The Ancient shows me images of his former glory. I don't understand why they want me. Why they need me. **_

_**July 26, 1999 **_

_**I am actually surprised. I am told that they seek not to control me. They only seek my assistance in aiding the inevitable. But why do I continue to resist? What they tell me makes more sense than anything I have ever known. But I still fear them and what they will do to me should I refuse. But at this moment, I can't think of a single reason why I should. **_

_**August 13th, 1999 **_

_**Is acceptance all that I ever yearned for? But the greater good here is far more complicated—yet so much easier to obtain. They smile upon me now. Strangely though, I like it. I find myself basking in the warmth of their chilling promises. **_

_**August 22nd, 1999 **_

_**I am comfortable, and I am learning about the true nature of the world and what is beyond it. I don't know why I continue writing in this journal—I guess that it's the last semblance of humanity that I have within me. **_

_**It's ridiculous though. I am becoming much more than human with every moment that I spend under their patient tutelage. I have been tempted to throw this journal into the fire on many occasions. Reading over its pages only reminds of how weak I used to be. **_

_**---**_

_**I've lost track of the day—but I am sure that I have been here for over a year. It has been a long time since I have entered anything into this journal. I can rejoice though. We will have company. At last! I will finally be rewarded. A group approacheth to provide me with the everlasting cup of life. A day away—no more, no less I am told. Wrath. Death. Blood. My day has finally arrived. The Shinda shall make the world remember what was. And I will be integral in reinstating what will be. **_

_**---**_

_**I can see them now. A group of campers as I was promised. Three males and two females. Now all I can do is wait. Wait for my time. Become their hand. Immortality beyond patience. Patience beyond the dominion. I can taste it now. Anoint me, Tsuki-sama! The time has come!**_

As he closed the book, an unsettling feeling hit him, a question burning in his mind. _Am...am I one of the surviving campers? Could I have possibly escaped this house, only to come back without a memory of what I was running from? _he asked himself. He had found three symbols so far. If that was the case, he could be the next victim. Setting the book on the table with a trembling hand, he slowly left the loungeroom and the kitchen.

_I have to get out of here._

* * *


	4. The Sad and Sorrowful Fable

**Last time...**

_He staggered away from the microwave upon seeing a severed head that was placed there._

**_I had a nightmare last night. All I can remember is the blood and the frightened screams surrounding me. And the house. The house was in my nightmare too. _**

**_I no longer fear death. I actually pray that it comes for me. _**

**_At last! I will finally be rewarded. A group approacheth to provide me with the everlasting cup of life. A day away—no more, no less I am told. Wrath. Death. Blood. My day has finally arrived. The Shinda shall make the world remember what was. And I will be integral in reinstating what will be. _**

_I have to get out of here._

_--- _

_Chapter 3: The Sad and Sorrowful "Fable" _

_---  
_Closing the kitchen door, his eyes glanced over to the adjacent room. He stepped towards it, glancing at the knob as if he expected it to bite out at him. He swiftly twisted the knob, only to find out that it was locked.

For that brief moment he closed his eyes and let out the breath he'd held for quite some time before glancing at the knob. _Locked, huh..._ His hand slipped into his pocket and fished out the key he found in the bathroom upstairs. _Maybe it'll work this time?_ He asked himself, staring at it for a moment. He turned to the knob and inserted the key. It fit perfectly. He twisted it and pushed the door open, slowly heading inside...

The room was darkly lit, and shelves of books as well as a few desks could be seen. _The library…_ he slowly closed the door, sighing. Something he was finally familiar with…

_Hm?!!_ His eyes snapped over to the desk at the right, and he took a step back in surprise. A severed arm rested upon it. He shivered slightly. _This house is turning out to be a graveyard!_ His eyes narrowed upon the symbol its fingers pointed at. _S…in the English alphabet…_ Taking his glance off the severed limb, he glanced over at the old smoky fireplace that separated two shelves. A bust sat above it, a mirror that was stained in blood beside it. (_Probably the victim's,_ he thought to himself.) Spelt upon its surface is the word "Remember." _Is…this meant for me?_ He wondered. _Or…for someone else?_ So many questions unanswered. Maybe some of the answers would be found here?

He headed to the bookshelf on the left side of the fireplace. He stopped, his eyes catching some movement at the fireplace, specifically the bust. Seeing nothing out of place, he stepped in front of the bookshelf. _I swear that its eyes were following me… _

Inspecting the books, he found volumes of encyclopedias. All of them were catalogued alphabetically and upwards from A. His eyes narrowed at the letters. _These…these look exactly like the letters I found scattered here…Definitely this has some significance… _

He stepped away from the shelf, he turned his attention to the one on the right. Many books on the occult were on this side. He blinked at a book that didn't quite seem to fit in, so he took it out. _Mouri Kogoro, c. 1890_ was written on its cover. _Mouri Kogoro again…_ He opened the pages and began to read its contents…

**_M.R. _**

**_The tale of my daughter Ran is a sad and sorrowful fable. I refer to it as a fable for my mortal brain cannot begin to  
comprehend the horrors that I have witnessed in this house. So I cast what I have witnessed into my memory as  
delusion and morbid fantasy. _**

**_My small family moved to this house of solitude last summer to escape the perils of society, and to mourn the  
unfortunate death of my wife Eri. Tuberculosis claimed her life only months before my move to this place. Hindsight  
is a beautiful thing, and knowing what I know now, it was a move that I would never again make. _**

**_The days rolled onwards towards inevitability, and my daughter and I continued our simple existence. Being a scholar  
myself, I enjoyed passing the time reading literature left here by the previous owner of this detached house. Many of  
the fine works kept here proved to be very old and of extreme interest to me. Some works proved very challenging  
indeed and very hard to translate. _**

**_The library provided here had an abundance of books flavored with subjects focused on the occult. One particular  
book caught my interest, simply titled Shinda. The word is taken from "shinda"—which translates to "the dead." _**

**_It was from the moment that I finished translating this book (from an unusual dialect of ancient Aramaic, mind you)  
and read the final translation that our troubles began. _**

**_My daughter—the only other occupant of this house grew distant from me over the course of the following week. She  
developed rageful tendencies towards my parentage and started having seizures which worried me immensely at the  
time. But these unusual events didn't limit themselves to my daughter. I began having nightmares so ghastly that I  
dare not recall them. Suffice to say, I was concerned by the disturbing changes to both my daughter and I. _**

**_After the first week, the hallucinations began. I recall hearing noises and whispering as well as sighting movement  
in my peripheral vision. I constantly had the feeling that someone was in the room with me, but upon searching it  
was clear that I was alone. _**

**_My dear Ran however became less active all of a sudden. She was almost catatonic at stages, no reaction to conversation  
or physical prompting. She would just shuffle her somewhat petite form around the house and stare blankly through  
me whenever I confronted her. _**

**_It was shortly after a month of this behavior that I began to notice certain physical changes in my daughter. She  
seemed withered in her appearance, but her face would at time seem bloated and twisted horribly. _**

**_It wasn't until a fleeting moment in my day, that my hope was crushed forever. My darling Ran broke free from  
this new personality that had gripped her for months. She screamed and cried for me to help her. To save her  
from the monsters that now plagued her body. _**

**_All that I could do was hold her in my arms and assure her that I would free her from the prison she was trapped  
in. And then she was lost forever. The Ran that I loved had resurfaced for only a minute, but to me it was enough  
to realize what had to be done. _**

**_That night while she slept in her room, I crept in with a dagger in my hand and plunged it deep into her heart. _**

**_She writhed and convulsed in agony while all I could do was just watch and sob from the corner. In hear dying  
breath, the real Ran locked eyes with me and spoke. _**

**_"Arigatou, Otou-san." _**

**_I sit here now recounting the events that lead me to this point in my insanity. My wife and daughter taken  
from me over the past 6 months, leaving me with nothing but their memories and this house. _**

**_But I fear that now I am a target for the invisible force that resides within these walls. I am trapped, unable  
to venture past the front door or the cellar hatch to the surrounding forest. _**

**_I hear voices from all around me, cursing me for my actions. I occasionally see her. My Ran. Standing in the  
hallway, looking straight through me like she used to. I hope I have saved her soul, but after seeing her apparition  
on a daily basis, I fear that all I have done is aided my tormentors. _**

**_I now spend my days reading, researching and translating the library. I feel that it's my purpose in this house. May  
Kami-sama have mercy on my soul and may death soon relieve me of the guilt I carry. _**

Closing the book and putting it back where he found it; he exited the library and headed back into the dark hallway. Out of pure interest, he decided to visit the other door in the hallway. Upon approach of it he immediately stopped and let out a cry as a harsh draft passed by. He doubled over as the voices of many spoke. _"You must first remember, only then shall you pass!"_ The voices were gone in a split second. He stood up again, a shiver going down his spine.

_Remember? That's the second time I've been warned to remember…But what do I have to do with this house?_ Hesitantly he reached for the knob of the door and twisted it.

_Click, click. _

He bit his lip. _Locked. What is it that I have to remember?_ And then it hit him—there was someone who could help. Quickly heading for and up the staircase, he turned to the hallway upstairs on the left. _Mouri Ran's apparition. She can help. _

The door he had tried to open earlier was now ajar, a ghostly sob heard. Hesitantly he stepped toward it and slowly pushed it open enough for him to take just one step in…

His heart jumped out of his chest as he saw the apparition of a young girl in her late teens. She silently watched him as he stepped further in and closed the door. He glanced over at the bed she stood next to, which was still stained with her hundred year old blood.

_How is this possible!??_ He asked himself, just taking a small step back in fear. His back met the door. _…Then again…everything I've experienced in this house so far defies explanation…this room shouldn't make any difference… _

Taking a deep breath he decided to try and talk to the ghostly form of Ran to see if she could shed some light on what he should be remembering. "H-Hello..?"

Ran took a step forward, and her face grotesquely distorted as a shrill scream escapes her ghostly lips. He let out a cry and doubled over, the sound bouncing off the walls of his skull and his brain struggling to overcome the sensory overload. As he attempted to escape the room his vision distorted and then blacked out.

Suddenly, he snapped back into consciousness--or was he brought back? He stood up and glanced around. The apparition of the poor girl was gone, and the door had been left open. Shakily he exited and headed for the stairs.

_I really have to get out of here,_ he thought, quickly descending the stairs. _But...the front door can't be accessed anymore..._ he glanced at said door as he reached the ground floor. He walked into the dark hallway once more and stood in front of the locked door.

_Kogoro-san said in that diary that this was one of the ways out of the house..._ his eyes narrowed at the knob. He quickly seized it and twisted the knob. It swung open, and he blinked in slight surprise. _Well, whatever was holding the door shut, it's gone..._

As he entered the cellar, the door suddenly slammed shut. Immediately he turned around and twisted the knob.

_Click, click._

_

* * *

_

A/N: Sorry to cut it somewhat short, homework's occupying much of my free time. Heads up, next chappie's the last one; wasn't really supposed to be that long...

_-LazyTantei_


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